OMG … let me tell you how freaking AMAZING yesterday was for me. As I mentioned before, my dear friend Emma and I made our way to San Francisco, CA this weekend for the express purpose of seeing Madonna perform live in concert in San Jose, CA. While we have been having a blast her in SF, it was all about the Madonna show last night. After many months of hearing about the show, I finally got to see The MDNA World Tour LIVE in person for myself. I thought I was ready … but I was not. The show BLEW MY MIND. Hands down it is one of Madonna‘s best live shows of all time and is certainly her best live show in years. BUT, I’ll get to all of that later in the post. The rest of my day here in the Bay area was pretty sweet, too. Click below to see some photos from my really fantastic day yesterday.

To start the day, Emma and I met up with David’s brother Aram and his girlfriend Jodee for brunch at La Boulange. They were off to go couch shopping so Emma and I did a bit of regular ol’ shopping of our own. We bought the really cute knit hats you see above and I may have picked up a couple of things here and there (the red hat I wore to the concert last night is my new jam and the WeHo t-shirt is just the cutest ever). Fun Fun Fun!

Then it was time to get to the show. We picked up our rental car (a 2012 cherry red Ford Mustang convertible) and headed down South to San Jose for the show at the HP Pavilion. Our tickets included access to the VIP pre-party where we got to eat and drink our faces off (included in the price, no extra charge) and collect tote bag full of Madonna goodies (t-shirt, tour book, Truth or Dare perfume, etc.). This was Emma‘s first time seeing Madonna so she was really excited:

Once seated, we got to meet the coolest Pink reader ever! Uzra and her sister were sitting in front of us and we became BFFs immediately. She is the lovely lady pictured above :D

And then, it was time for the show:

Honestly, these photos cannot do Madonna‘s live show justice. I’m really glad I stayed away from major tour spoilers (ALL YEAR LONG as Madonna toured all over the world) because seeing the show for the first time, being surprised with every number she performed was just THE BEST way to see the show. The MDNA World Tour is the most theatrical performance she’s done in years. When she says she wants her show to take you on a journey with her, she’s not kidding. The songs are broken up into acts that move her story along. The visuals, the acrobatics, the dancing, the staging … I was truly BLOWN AWAY. I’ve seen some great BIG production shows in my time but this MDNA show is really up there with the best of them, in my opinion. Her stage — the way it moves — impressed the Hell out of me. I literally gasped and exclaimed “THIS IS SO COOL!” more times than I can count. If you are seeing her live, DO NOT read spoilers. You will enjoy the show seeing it cold, TRUST ME.

I do want to share one video with you … cuz it’s a great one. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the release of Madonna‘s first single ever, Everybody. She talked about the song with us last night … and then she performed it for the first time on this tour:

I love Everybody, it’s really one of my fave Madonna songs of all time … to celebrate it’s 30th anniversary with a LIVE performance by Madonna on the song’s actual 30th anniversary was beyond amazing. I have to admit, I was not particularly wowed by Madonna‘s last tour but you have to trust me here, The MDNA World Tour is visually stunning, wholly entertaining and truly worth seeing if you’re able.

And I can’t wait to see it again. I’m seeing Maddy in LA later this week and then I’m going home to Michigan (both my and Madonna‘s home State) next month to see The MDNA World Tour one last time.

Our time here in SF is dunzo. We only have time for a quick breakfast then we fly home to LA. It’s been a superfun weekend, I can’t WAIT to return! Thank you, San Francisco, I love you and will be back soon!!

RIGHT?!?!?!?
I’ve so been waiting for you to see this show cuz I was so interested in hearing what you had to say. I felt the same way when I saw it a month ago. A few small criticisms aside, It so blew away S&S (though Confessions still remains my absolute fave tour of this millennium)!! MDNA is just amaze-balls!

Of course, when I saw her, it was before she started adding Holiday into the mix. And you got Everybody!! JEALOUS!! But that was so awesome!

Just wondering, though… in the slow song she performs with just the piano and the corset, I got a real classic 80s song… but then I’ve seen she switches it out sometimes with a song from MDNA… which one did you get??

Wednesday starts my Madonna extravaganza week. 2 LA show followed by 2 Vegas shows!! I’d be happy for some switch out songs here and there, but overall, I’m just excited to see the show again… and again and again… and again. :-)
M.D.N.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

-First, I am SEETHING with envy that you will see the tour 4 more times. I mean, I’ve seen it twice but I seriously bow down to you.
-Second, re: piano and corset – the first night we got a totally torch version of Like a Virgin which ruled the world. The second night she dropped LaV and replaced it with… I DON’T KNOW WHAT! And it’s driving me nucking futs. I couldn’t/still can’t believe that I couldn’t/still can’t figure out which song it was.

Well …..I saw the show a bit differently than you all, as did my friends ( all long time Madonna fans). While the sets were very good, and we appreciate an artist revising old hits, taking chances with new numbers, etc. Madonna clearly has become more and more self indulgent the past couple tours. Everytime she held that guitar you knew that nothing good would come from it. Most of the long middle of the show was a sit down snoozefest and left many simply scratching their heads. I wanted to love this show so much and I came away empty and sad at her choice of songs and her interpretation of them.

After never in 30 years missing 1 tour, I wont be back for the next one, especially at $ 400 a pop. Clearly still mentally and physically tough, agile and smart she has made the fatal mistake of taking her core audience for granted……big mistake. And the shout out to the fans— phony, phony, phony……could she have done that because she heard the pitter patter of Little Monsters feet behind her???

I agree – such an amazing show! I was truly not expecting to be as impressed as I was. I was so tired after a long day and wasn’t prepared for a 2.5 hour opening DJ set but it was definitely worth the wait.

No one can command a stage like Madonna! The woman is just a machine! The whole set design was just phenomenal. Loved the part with Everybody too – that has always been one of my favorite jams. Even though the whole show was so BIG – I still thought Madonna was as down to earth as I have ever seen her. She seemed so grateful to her fans and was just 100% present. So many sweet moments.

Sorry I wasn’t close enough to say hey but it looked like you were having a blast. Loved your cute red hat!

I was there last night too! OMG this was seriously the best show. I was so floored with everything. I am so jealous of your seats, I was way high up in the balcony, but wouldn’t change a thing. My poor fiancé, he was not prepared at all for the experience of a Madonna concert.

I saw the show and although I really liked bits of it, it still wasn’t on par with confessions, drowned world or the girlie show for me. The middle did drag… By midnight, sorry, I was tired. All I could think of was getting home and then having to get up for work the next day. I left mid way through celebration as I’m not a big fan of that show. I’ve always appreciated how she puts together a tour that challenges the audience…I guess I’m not a big fan of the MDNA album so the songs didn’t really grab me…. Sticky and Sweet sucked… no doubt about it. I will say, though, that looking around during Like a Prayer was amazing. By far, one of the most transcendent experiences I’ve had at a concert in a long time.